[FM] FW: Newport Folk Festival - update

[Robert Jones]

-----Original Message-----
From:	Robert Jones [mailto:rl999@mindspring.com]
Sent:	Wednesday, February 02, 2000 8:37 AM
To:	Folkmusic
Subject:	Newport Folk Festival - update



-----Original Message-----
From:	Robert Jones [mailto:robert.jones@fpiny.com]
Sent:	Tuesday, February 01, 2000 5:37 PM
To:	'Robert Jones'
Subject:	Newport news for folkmusic forum

Newport Folk Festival - news
We, at Festival Productions, Inc., are happy and excited to announce the
dates of the Newport Folk Festival 2000, to be held at Fort Adams State Park
and the Hotel Viking on August 4, 5 & 6.  We are currently working on our
musical programs and look forward to our best year yet.  Prior to the Folk
Alliance conference, we would like to inform our friends and supporters
about some important developments in the structure of the Festival.  Last
month, we received word from Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc., that they will no
longer be sponsoring our event.  They have decided to pursue other marketing
opportunities.
Ben, Jerry, and their team have worked with us for more than ten years, and
have been a great support of the festival and the music.  Naturally, we are
sorry to end our relationship with their company, but we wish them the best
of luck in their future endeavors. Jerry Greenfield, (co-founder of Ben &
Jerry's) has recently written to us about his experience with Festival
Productions and the Newport Folk Festival.  "The music has always been the
centerpiece, and I believe that is what really makes the Folk Festival
unique.  Your team has been successful at bringing in exciting new talent
along with great musicians who are the big drawing cards, which produces the
mix and diversity of music to create the Newport experience. It is the
ability to build on the amazing history and heritage of the festival which
makes the festival what it is."
We are grateful to have had such a fruitful association with Ben & Jerry's,
but feel confident that the Newport Folk Festival will remain a joyful
meeting place of tradition and new talent.  We are committed to continuing
with the Festival in this new millennium, and look forward to what the
future brings.  This year's event will the first weekend of August, and we
will be posting ideas and news on our website at www.newportfolk.com  (as
well as highlights from the 1999 festival weekend).  On behalf of Festival
Productions, and the Folk Festival's many other sponsors- among them ASCAP,
WBOS, WFUV, Teva, Mindspring, Green Mountain Coffee, and more-we would like
to thank all of you for your continued support of our event.
Robert L. Jones
Producer